Although I’ve only been shooting Tikka rifles for less than a year, I seem to keep becoming better-acquainted with them. For starters, Tikka of Finland offers some of the finest and most consistent cold hammer forged barrels in the industry.
It could have been fair to say that my “breakthrough” moment with Tikka rifles happened last year whilst reviewing the .22-caliber T1X MTR for a different journal. Out of the box, that little rifle printed some rather neat and consistent groups at 50 yards. And with its bore properly seasoned, it sang with match specific loads like Eley’s Tenex or RWS R50. But rimfire shooting, especially the precision stuff, is full of its own quirks and voodoo.
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Fast forward to a few months after reviewing the T1X MTR last year.
There I was on a firing line back west in the high desert. It was a cold and windy December day, right around Christmastime. Sunny in the high 30s, maybe low 40s. And windy enough that the 700 yard wind hold was approximately 4.2 mils.
One of the rifles we had on the line was a bone-stock 6.5mm Creedmoor Tikka T3X Lite hunting rifle with a light-contour barrel. With the aid of a Leupold Mark 4 HD riflescope and the cheapest plastic bipod Magpul sells, I was able to connect with hard-to-see steel coyote silhouettes at around 830 yards.
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I was shooting factory-loaded SIG Venari SP 6.5mm Creedmoor loads—incidentally loaded with the same .440 G1 BC Hornady-manufactured 129-grain softpoint bullet found in Hornady’s American Whitetail cartridge.
After The Tikka Bug Bit
I wrote my full review about this same rifle here on GAT Daily. That Tikka T3X Lite was quite literally off the rack and completely unmodified. I made these shots while the barreled action sat on an unremarkable synthetic stock. The mounted Leupold Mark 4HD was a big help, but the basic rifle duly impressed me in its own right. Not bad for what amounted to the “value” version of the Finnish brand’s hunting rifle.
This is why when I got the chance to shoot and review the newer Tikka T3X ACE Target rifle this year, I was thrilled. At this point in time, my full-feature review is pending to be published elsewhere (such is the life of a busy freelancer).
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With that said, the gist of the Tikka T3X ACE Target is fantastic and involves Tikka brewing everything great about its barrels and actions and pouring it into a standardized and feature rich modern modular free-floating chassis.
TaaP (Tikka As A Platform)
I seldom use the word “platform” in gun-related articles because gunwriters should consult a thesaurus and find another word already. While we’re at it, please find a synonym for “gamechanger” too.
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At the aggregate level the Tikka T3X ACE Target offers an excellent platform in the true sense of that word for the beginner to intermediate competitive rifle shooter, especially those who are fans of Finnish rifles, Tikka actions and Tikka cold hammer forged barrels.
The weighted average of my printed groups with Remington, Barnes and Hornady amounts to 0.705 inches. That figure consists of 60 total rounds divided into 12 separate 5-shot groups including an aberrant flyer that added ⅛ inch to its group. And this is from a mediocre rifle shooter. In short, the Tikka T3X ACE’s barreled action and adjustable trigger have tremendous potential.
That the muzzle is threaded for ⅝ x 24 TPI and its chassis has plenty of M-LOK stocks for accessorizing and adding weight makes this gun quite compelling.
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In short, the T3X ACE Target offers a lot of potential for those who want a decent PRS rifle built on a strong foundation. I don’t think the ACE Target would offer much to those who already build rifles and shoot weird, blazing 6mm handloads. That type of shooter is already far too gone down the PRS rabbit hole.
Disclaimer
I know the Nightforce ATACR 7-35×56 F1 mounted on my Tikka T3X ACE Target is not production legal given its list price. Look at the Leupold Mark 5HD 7-35 to stay compliant.
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Read the full article here
